There's good reason for the good cheer at a music shop on Grand Island.

“That's right, woo hoo!” says owner Mary West. She is elated about the court's decision that the island does not still belong to the Seneca Nation of Indians.

“There's always that thought in the back of your mind that maybe it could owe to something,” West says. “Because when you go through the judicial system you just never know.”

Grand Island homeowners believe property values will increase now that the ten years of waiting for a decision are essentially over.

“Everybody was worried you were gonna lose your house, but now we don't have to worry about it”.

Some Senecas say they weren’t surprised by the decision.

“You feel devastated but at the same time you feel, ‘what were you gonna expect anyway?’” says Debra Jimerson. “You know, because some times we just don't get treated fair.

Native Americans on the Cattaraugus Reservation say they're used to disappointment from US Courts. Some say the decision should be made by another authority.

“We’re probably in the wrong courts,” says Sally Snow. “Seneca Nation needs to be in international courts because we are a sovereign nation.”

One tribal councilor issued a statement saying this is not over. They plan to meet to discuss it Monday afternoon, and they do plan to appeal the decision.

Even if the ruling was overturned, the worst case scenario would have the state paying damages to the Senecas. Property owners would not be affected.

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(Buffalo-AP) -- A federal judge in Buffalo has ruled against the Seneca Nation of Indians' land claim lawsuit for islands in the Niagara River.

US District Judge Richard Arcara today dismissed the Senecas' claim of ownership of Grand Island and other islands in the river.

Arcara ruled that the Seneca Nation's title to the islands had expired before New York's purchase of them in 1815.

The Senecas are seeking the return Grand Island and neighboring islands, claiming New York's original purchase of the land from the
tribe wasn't valid because it wasn't approved by Congress as required by law.

Lawyers for the Senecas and the state and county had argued over how to interpret centuries-old maps and treaties on which the Senecas' lawsuit is based.

State officials argued that a 1794 treaty with the Senecas didn't include giving them ownership of the islands within the river.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)